The House on West 10th Street

by Helen Phifer

  ‘I need a number.’

  Harrison pulled out his cell and rhymed off Maria’s number. Frankie had to ask, he was a geek when it came to anything technical.

  ‘How can you track it?’

  Joe, who had a British accent, rolled his eyes at him.

  ‘Mate, anyone can track a phone. It’s not rocket science, there are all sorts of apps out there. Is it an iPhone?’

  Frankie shook his head. ‘Nope, it’s a cheap cell. Maria is too tight to pay contract fees for one of those.’

  ‘Ah, that might make it a bit trickier. Still I can do it, I’ll use CCSS7. It might take a little longer if it’s not an up to date mobile.’

  ‘What’s CCSS7, I’ve never heard of it?’

  ‘Well, basically it’s a network interchange service that acts as a broker between mobile phone networks. By hacking into the system I can track the location based on the mobile phone mast triangulation. It will even let me read their text messages, I can log and listen to phone calls by using the number as an identifier.’

  Harrison nodded at Joe. ‘Let’s just hope she has her phone with her, it definitely wasn’t in the apartment, Frankie?’

  Frankie wasn’t sure, he hadn’t seen it. ‘I don’t think so, she never goes anywhere without it.’

  ‘Well, let’s hope this works then. All we need is a location.’

  Harrison stood watching Joe over his shoulder until the kid turned to look at him.

  ‘Boss, you might pay the wages, but back up. I can’t work with you breathing down my neck, you’re putting me off.’

  Harrison stepped back, he looked at Frankie who was surprised to see Harrison do as he was told. He wondered how often that happened. Probably not a lot. Maria must mean something to him if he was willing to be so compliant. He didn’t strike Frankie as the sort of guy who did what someone else told him very often.

  Joe let out a whoop. ‘I’m in and this mobile is somewhere in a one mile radius of West 10th Street. I can get you her last messages up if you want.’

  Frankie felt the contents of his stomach threaten to spew out of his mouth all over the fancy computer system that Joe was sitting behind. The blood drained from his face, Harrison watched him, horrified.

  ‘What, what the fuck does that mean? It’s bad isn’t it, what’s on West 10th Street?’

  ‘A murdering son of a bitch, that’s what. I have to go, wait here. I’ll contact you when I have her.’

  ‘No, I’m not waiting here. You can’t get out on your own, you have no security pass or access to the elevator. You need me to get you out of this building.’

  Frankie knew he was telling the truth. ‘Move your ass then.’

  Harrison ran towards the elevator, the door opened and he ushered Frankie in. Joe shouted. ‘You’re welcome, of course I don’t mind.’

  Harrison yelled back. ‘Thanks Joe.’ Just as the doors shut.

  Frankie arched an eyebrow at him. Harrison shrugged. ‘He’s British, they’re very odd about good manners. He’s also the best computer guy I’ve ever had, so he kind of has free reign and he’s only a kid.’

  ‘I never said a word, it’s your circus. Your monkeys’

  ‘You didn’t have to, I saw your expression.’

  They reached the ground floor and ran to the staff exit, Frankie let out a huge sigh to see his car was still there and hadn’t been towed by his over keen co-workers in traffic. He looked at Harrison and realized that maybe he wasn’t just a rich asshole. He’d just saved them valuable hours that could mean the difference between life and death for Maria.

  Chapter Forty-six

  Charlie wheeled himself as close to Emilia as he could.

  ‘I think you know what you need to do, whether you know how to do it is an entirely different matter.’

  She shook her head, as it all came rushing back – that last evening when she’d been chased from her own home to Mrs Smith’s house across the street. A glorious, technicolor, slideshow of complete and utter fear filled her heart as the images flashed across her mind. She gasped.

  ‘We need to seal the portal, we never did. After that night when poor Mrs Smith died in Missy’s arms we didn’t do it. We were supposed to, but it all went horribly wrong. Mr Smith was so angry with us for coming to them for help. By the time the EMS and cops had been we forgot all about going back to do the ritual.’

  Missy nodded. ‘When we finally went home we were exhausted, the house felt different. Lighter, happier, it didn’t have that goddamn, awful rotting corpse smell. Whatever Mrs Smith had done before she died, it worked. For a while, at least, I didn’t notice it creeping back in. When Clarke died I left you and I’m sorry, I left you to deal with the consequences and you’ve spent all those years locked inside the house which has now become your prison.’

  Emilia sobbed so loudly it made them jump.

  ‘What do we need to do? I don’t care if I die trying, I’ve had enough. I’ve lived under the shadow of that beast for far too long. I’m ready to fight it single handed.’

  Charlie nodded his head, smiling at the same time. ‘Now that’s what I like to hear, fighting talk. I believe you’re ready to do this, I truly do.’

  He turned, wheeling himself towards a glass bookcase stuffed with cracked, antique, leather books. He opened the door and pulled one out, handing it to Emilia. You need this, holy water and salt. You go to the portal and make the sign of the cross with the holy water, then you seal the area with salt and repeat the prayers. First of all Anthony must go through the entire house, blessing each room with holy water. It will help to remove all the negative energy, it will stop it from leaving the attic whilst you go up and seal the portal. The page in the book I’ve marked are the prayers you need to say.’

  She looked at Anthony. ‘Will you even need to be there?’

  He smiled at her. ‘I’ll be there to bring in the light and watch your back. I’ll be your support.’

  Missy shook her head. ‘Shouldn’t it be the other way around, shouldn’t we be watching your back?’

  It was Charlie who answered. ‘In some cases, yes, the church leads the way. In this case I believe that Emilia’s strength of character and the fact that she knows it so well will be to the advantage.’

  ‘So, the church is copping out and letting a couple of seniors do its job?’

  ‘To the contrary Missy, for once the church is being devious and playing evil at its own game. You must trust me on this one. Anthony will go in and do the prayers to cleanse the house. You will go to the attic and deal with the portal.’

  Emilia nodded. ‘Let’s go now, I want it finished.’

  Mikey looked at them both. ‘What am I to do?’

  Charlie spoke. ‘You’re the hired muscle, you make sure Emilia can get to the attic at all costs. Now gather round, I need to bless you all. Come, come, join hands and close your eyes. I want you to believe in the power of good and God more than you’ve ever believed in anything else.’

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Maria’s wrists were on fire, she could feel the wetness of the blood as it seeped down her arms from the rope burns. Gritting her teeth, she managed to tug one arm free. It was better than nothing. At least she could punch or poke his eyeballs out with one hand. Silent tears were running down her cheeks, she’d never felt such intense heat and pain as she writhed the other wrist against the rope. There was something in the room with her, but it wasn’t anything she could see, it was something she could sense. She didn’t even know where to begin explaining it when she got out of here to the guys, to Frankie. The pain in her heart at the thought of never seeing him again was like someone had taken a knife and physically plunged it into her heart. She loved him and had never told him, despite the fact that most of the time he drove her nuts. On a deeper level they were connected, they’d been through a lot. How ironic that after all the attempted drunken fumbles now he was finally a free man, she’d met Harrison. Not to mention it was quite likely she was going to die before she
got the chance to make a life with either of them. Maria stifled the sob which wanted to explode from her chest. This was so fucking wrong, she’d spent the last ten years of her life hunting down homicidal maniacs to get them off the streets of New York to make it a safer place. Yet here she was in the world’s smelliest apartment, waiting for an absolute psycho to come and chop her head off. Well, not today Satan. This is not going down on my watch. Her wrist slid free from the rope and she smiled to herself, she didn’t touch her wrists as tempting as it was to rub them because she knew they were a bloodied mess. She wiped them across the bedcover to remove some of the blood, she needed her fingers to be dry. Sitting up she began to unfasten the ropes around her ankles, praying he wouldn’t come back before she’d set herself free and found a weapon. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness inside the room, she could make out a chest of drawers and a wardrobe on one side. The other wall had nothing against it, it was a huge expanse of white with a freshly, painted pentagram filling the middle. Her heart which was already racing began to hammer against her rib cage. She didn’t want to believe in this crap. It was far easier to accept it had nothing to do with angels and demons, it was good old fashioned psychotic behavior. Humans were more than capable of committing acts of heinous behavior of their own free will. They sure as hell didn’t need the excuse of being possessed by demons to do so. A scraping, creaking noise began to fill the room, Maria looked around, but couldn’t see anything. Her fingers began working even faster to loosen the knots in the rope as she tugged one foot free. She looked up towards the pentagram and felt her entire body prickle with fear. There was a huge shape pressing against the inside of the plaster. She’d never seen anything like it, the plaster on the wall was bulging and she watched in fear as she waited for it to start cracking. For the first time in her life Maria felt the realization come crashing down on her that she was wrong, there were things in existence that couldn’t be explained. The wall was bulging out so far that she didn’t know how it was still standing. Free of the ropes she ran towards the door desperate to get away from whatever it was trying to break through the wall. She threw the door open and ran straight into the man that had brought her here. The surprise on his face was almost as wild as hers, suddenly he didn’t look so mean and scary. Realising she had the advantage her arm shot out and she repaid the favour by punching him hard in the nose. She smiled at the satisfying crunch as her knuckles ground into face, the blood began to spurt from it and he stumbled backwards. Not waiting a second longer she ran at him and punched him again, this time her knuckles connected with his Adams apple and he fell to his knees, his eyes streaming with tears as he was gasping trying to catch his breath.

  ‘How do you like that you asshole? That one was for Anya.’

  There was a loud bang as the door to the apartment was hurled open, Maria had never been so happy to see Frankie. He rushed towards her, grabbing and hugging her close.

  ‘I thought you were…’

  ‘Yeah, well you thought wrong.’

  He let go of her. ‘Your wrists.’

  ‘I’ll live.’

  She noticed a red-faced Harrison standing there taking in the scene before him.

  ‘What are you doing here?’

  Frankie – who now had the choking guy in an even tighter choke-hold shook his head.

  ‘Well, it’s a long story, but thanks to him we knew where you were.’

  Maria smiled. ‘With his stalking abilities that doesn’t surprise me.’

  He crossed the room and taking hold of her gently, he pulled her close.

  ‘I don’t know what to say, except I swear to God, I’m not a stalker.’

  ‘It’s okay, we’re used to this kind of crap. Thank you.’

  There was an almighty crash which vibrated the whole floor as the lights went black, and the temperature in the room dropped to sub zero. Maria, who had forgotten all about the thing in the bedroom, felt every nerve in her body begin to freeze.

  ‘Run! We have to get out of here now. It’s too big.’

  The terror in her voice was enough to convince Frankie, who dragged the guy along with him towards the door. Maria grabbed Harrison’s hand, tugging him after them. They reached the top of the stairs and she turned to slam the door shut behind them. Not knowing if it would make the slightest bit of difference or not, but if it stalled it for just a few moments it was better than nothing.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Frankie pushed through the front door, dragging his prisoner behind him. He was closely followed by Maria who was dragging Harrison behind her. Almost barrelling into them, standing on the top step was Miss Green, Ms Carter, the man who’d warned her to keep out, and a priest. Maria shook her head.

  ‘Miss Green, what are you doing here?’

  Missy stepped forward. ‘Maria, what happened to you? You’re bruised and bleeding.’ The elderly woman reached out her hand, tenderly stroking Maria’s cheek.

  ‘I’m fine, I’ll mend. What are you all doing here?’

  Mikey stepped forward. ‘Sorry to break up this reunion, but we have work to do. As much as I’d like to make small talk with the cops all day we have a pressing matter to deal with.’

  Missy nodded. ‘We’re here to do something we should have done a long time ago.’

  ‘You can’t go in there, there’s something inside.’

  ‘I know, it’s been there since 1952. Hiding, watching, waiting. Well, not any longer, we’re here to send it back to hell.’

  The priest walked towards the door and began to pray, while Missy and Emilia clasped hands and followed him in. Mikey crossed himself and turned to Maria. ‘I have no idea how I got roped into this fucking mess. If I don’t make it out you can put that on my gravestone.’

  Then they were gone. Maria turned to Frankie who had the suspect in cuffs and was on the phone for back up.

  ‘We can’t leave them. What on earth is going on?’

  Frankie shrugged. ‘If I knew that I’d be living his lifestyle.’ He jerked his head in Harrison’s direction.

  ‘But, they’re old. Miss Green is a sweet, old lady. How can she fight that?’

  She began to run in after them. Frankie yelled. ‘Don’t you dare! Get your ass out here now.’

  She waved a hand towards him. Harrison shouted at him. ‘What do I do? Should I go in after her?’

  Frankie sighed. ‘Knock yourself out, tell her I’m gonna kick her ass and get her put down in the basement with Layla.’

  Harrison ran back towards the building. ‘Who’s Layla?’

  ‘Pray you never have to meet her, that’s who.’

  And then he was at the front door, leaving Frankie waiting for a squad car to come and get the psycho he had cuffed to his right arm.

  Emilia led the way, the house was dark. Much darker than she’d ever known it and the smell was back. It was so strong it made her eyes water. She turned to Anthony who nodded at her. He began to pray, at each apartment door he used the holy water to make the sign of the cross. Mikey who felt like a spare part stood watching. Anthony turned towards him. ‘You keep watch. We’ll keep on moving up until we come face to face with it or until it decides to come down to see what we’re doing.’

  Emilia gripped Missy’s hand even tighter. She whispered, ‘We’ll take the staff stairs, maybe take it by surprise.’

  Missy nodded, the fear in her eyes reflected back in those of her friends. This was it. There was no going back and she knew that. Emilia began to recite a prayer in her mind, it was one she’d made up, but it had served her well all these years. They broke away from Mikey and Anthony, hurrying towards the far end of the building and the hidden staircase. Maria came flying through the front door, pushing it shut behind her, she turned the lock. Harrison pressed his face against the glass, slamming the palms of his hands against it. He shouted.

  ‘Open the door, Maria.’

  She shook her head. He hammered harder on the glass, ‘Let me in, I can help.’

  ‘No.
You can’t. Stay with Frankie.’ She ran towards the first floor where she could hear male voices. Mikey was standing behind the priest. Maria felt her heart skip a beat.

  ‘Where are the others?’

  The priest ignored her, his brow furrowed. There were beads of perspiration on his forehead. Mikey lifted a finger to his lips, he had no idea if the demon could hear them or not. He didn’t want to blatantly let it know their plans. The air was heavy with anticipation, the smell was much worse. She whispered to the priest.

  ‘What are you doing?’

  He whispered back. ‘Blessing this part of the house so it can’t come down, we need to keep it trapped upstairs.’

  She cupped her hand to his ear. ‘Is it working?’

  All the bulbs exploded at the same time sending glass flying, Maria and Mikey both ducked. Anthony wasn’t so lucky and a shard of glass embedded itself in his cheek. He winced at the sharp pain, but he didn’t stop what he was doing.

  ‘You can try your worst, you won’t stop me, demon. By the power invested in me by the Almighty you will leave this house.’

  The roar that filled the hallway was so loud that the floorboards reverberated under their feet. Maria felt coldness begin to seep into her veins. For a second she was frozen to the floor. Then she heard an almighty smash from above and her instincts kicked in. Miss Green and Emilia were up there, alone with a mean son of a bitch, monster thing. She wasn’t going to stand for it. She ran towards the stairs. Making it halfway up them before an invisible force slammed two huge hands into her chest, sending her flying backwards through the air. Her arms and legs began to windmill as she tried to slow herself down. She felt herself falling towards the floor and landed with a loud crash at the priest’s feet. Stunned she lay there for a moment trying to catch her breath. Anthony bent down to her, he made the sign of the cross on her forehead with the holy water and blessed her. Mikey who was shaking his head held his hand out towards her. She took it and he pulled her up. Bruised and winded she didn’t let it stop her, she was about to try again when Mikey whispered in her ear.